Bobby pin dispenser and spreader



Jan. 6, 1948. J. E. MOARTHUR BOBBY PIN DISPENSER AND SPREADER Filed June28, 1946 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 4 V Q 6 %W. MW m fr W X m l: ....,.w I? A 2 mM 4 M n HH. r m w F 3 Ev. .7 M B a W MQEQEF 4 ,4

Jan. 6, 1948. .1. E. McARTHUR BOBBY PIN DISPENSER AND SPREADER FiledJune 28, 1946 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 larva Aar INVENTOR.

- JAMES E. MFA/ifl/UR,

ATTORIY.

Patented Jan. e, 1948 UN I-T ED STATES ATENT OFFICE eohev'm DISPENSER'ANDSPREADER James E. McArthur, San Francisco, Calif. ApplicationJunezs, 1946, Serial No. 680,115"

5'Clainis.

Myinvehtion relates to an improved dispenser and spreader for bobbypins, the primary object of my invention being to provide novel andimproved construction and relative arrangement of parts in such adevice, whereby the bobby pins are more conveniently and easilyavailable in spread condition .mrquick application to the hair so astoc'onserve' effort and speed up the work of beauty operators andothers.

Another important object of'my invention is to provide a device of thecharacter indicated above which is relatively simple in construction,being composed ofa'minimu'rn of readil manu-' factureq a'nd-easilyassembled parts, v

Another important object of myinvention is to'providearu'ggedfandserviceable device of the character" indicated above which operateseasily and lSl'lOt readily subject to'jamming or to becoming otherwiseout of order or u'nserviceableQ Qther importanto bjects and advantageousfeatures of my invention will be apparent from the followingdetaileddescription and accompanying drawinga' wherein merely forpurposes of disclosure perem specific but non-limitative embodimentof-my invention is set forth.

efihei a i s; Eig'urel is an'end elevation of said embodiment. su iisareere eve o i Figured is a'vertical longitudinal section'taken onthe;line '3 3 of Figure 1. I a I Thedevioe of my invention consistsprimarily in a basemember adapted to be mounted on anyconvenient'stationary or movable support, a slide n embermountedonsaidbase to be manually movedrelatively to the base, means for support ing a'plurality of; bobby pins, cooperating means on said" base andslide'adapted to act when the slideis' actuatedfor selecting oneofsaid-plurality "of bobby pinsandspreading it while moving it towardfinal,-'- andholding means independent of the slide for holding thespread bobby pin in final po's'itionuntil-it' is removed in spread condition'by the operator. I

While'the above described-essential components of the device of myinvention may assume different forms and relationship, reference indetail to'the accompanying drawings will show a practical working form,in which the base, generally designated 5,'comprises a thin metal plateor rigid sheet 'bent along a longitudinal line to define a'pl'anegenerally rectangular foot portion Byte the bottom of'which vacuum cups1 or other convenient means may be attached for mounting the device on asupport (not shown) with one end of said plane portion 6 being bent up55 2 at right angles to defineasupport flange 8, and an elongatedgenerally rectangular'slide support bracket 9 which leans rearwardly outof the perpendicular and away from the foot portion 6.

The'material of' thesheet is cut away to provide a longitudinallyelongated clearance slot l0 between the portion 6 and that portion ofthe slide support bracket 9 which constitutes the narrower slide supportH which projects beyond the flange 8.

As shown inFigure 1, the upper edge of the slidesupport' II is curvedlybent rearwardly and downwardly and the lower edge thereof rearwardly andupwardly to define channels l2 and I3, respectively, over which areslidably engaged the complementarily formed channels l4 and I5,respectively, on the upper and lower edges of the slide I6, which isthereby longitudinally slidably mounted on the slide support H andrearwardly spaced therefrom.

The slide l6, like the base including the slide bracket 9 and slidesupport H, may be a single stamping from thin metal plate or sheeting.The plane portion of the slide between its channels M and I5 is formedwith a diagonal slot ll, declining from right to left, a smaller andtapered vertical slot l8 formed therein above the lower or left hand endof the slot I l, and a finger piece I9 cut therefrom and bent rearwardlyat right angles. The right hand edge of the slide is formed with a sprinanchoring hook 20 for one end of a contractile helical spring 2| havingits opposite end anchored on a similar hook 22 formed on the back of theslideubracket- 9, the spring being encl'o-sed' by a semi-circular crosssection guard 23 secured to the back of said slide br acket;

Projecting forwardly from the lower edge of the slide support llalongside of the base bracket 8 is a rod 24'uponwhich the legs of bobbypins rest when'loaded onthe device and during spreading or a bobby pin25; as indicated in dotted lines'in Figure 3. A secondsimilarlyangulated rod 26"is'secured' to the slide support H to the left of rod24 and thereabove in a position near the left hand end of said slidesupport, and immediately adjacent to the inner edge of an upset U-shapedpart 21 which has a bobby pin retaining hook 28, on the upper part ofits underside, which may, as shown, be cut out of the material'ofthepart 2?.

Immediately below the rod 25 and declining downwardly toward the rightthereof is an a'butment 29 against which the lower leg of a bobby pin isforced While" the bobby pinis'be'ing spread.

The lower portion of the rod 26 is tubular and has a slot 30 in its lefthand side, as indicated in Figure 3. An upright hook or finger 3| formednear the left hand end of the slide I6 is positioned within the tubularportion of the rod 26 when the slide is in normal retracted position andmoves out of said tubular portion through the slot 30 to a far left handposition relative thereto, when the slide I6 is operated toward theleft, against the resistance of the spring2l.

There works in the diagonal slot l l in the slide a pin 32 which ismounted on the slide by means of heads or flanges 33 and 34 engaging opposite sides of said slide. The pin 32 also works in a perpendicularslot 35, formed in the 'slide' support I I, whose lower end is locatedin such position to the left of the rod 26 that, with the tip of the pin32 at the bottom of the slot 35, where initially and normally is, andwith the eye 35 of a bobby pin circumposed on the lower end of the rod26 over the finger 3| therein, the tip of the pin 32 will be in aposition between the legs of the hobby pin.

Thus, when the slide i6 is pulled or pushed toward the left (in Figure3), the pin 32 will rise along the slots ll and 35 bearing against theunderside of the upper leg of the lowermost bobby pin on the rod 26, atthe same time that the se lector finger 3| engages the eye 36 of thebobby pin and pulls the bobby pin outwardly toward the left, with thelower leg of the bobby pin riding against the underside of the rod 25,until the upper leg of the bobby pin snaps over the retaining hook 28toward the end of the stroke of the slide l6.

The operator may then release the slide it to be retracted by the spring2! to its initial ready position, and the spread bobby pin remainsspread in readily removable position, as shown in dotted lines in Figure3, until removed by the operator. As the bobby pin was spread and movedoutwardly to available position, the next pin above it on the rod fallsinto position with its eye over the selector finger 3| ready for thenext operation of the slide l i.

It will be observed that due to the construction and operation of mydevice it may readily be operated and bobby pins withdrawn therefromwith i one and the same hand, so that it is unnecessary to remove theother hand from the hair to which the bobby pins are to be applied.

What is claimed is:

l. A dispenser and spreader for bobby pins 2 comprising a base adaptedto be secured to a support, a slide reciprocably mounted on said base,spring means for retracting said slide inwardly after manual movementthereof to outward op erated position, magazine means for holding aplurality of stacked bobby pins in unspread position on said base,selector means on said slide for selectively engaging the eye of thelowermost bobby pin, and spreading means comprising a spreading pincarried by said slide and an element on said base, said pin and saidelement being positioned between the legs of the bobby pin in theinitial position of said slide, operating means worked by outwardmovement of said slide relative to said base for moving said pintransversely to the direction of movement of the slide away from saidelement with said selector means engaged with the eye of the bobby pinso as to spread one leg of the bobby pin away from the other leg thereofas the bobby pin is drawn outwardly as said slide moves outwardlyrelative to said base.

2. A dispenser and spreader for bobby pins comprising a base adapted tobe secured to a support, a slide reciprocably mounted on said base,spring means for retracting said slide inwardly after manual movementthereof to outward operated position, magazine means for holding aplurality of stacked bobby pins in unspread position on said base,selector means on said slide for selectively engaging the eye of thelowermost bobby pin, and spreading means comprising a spreading pincarried by said slide and an element on said base, said pin and saidelement being positioned between the legs of the bobby pin in theinitial position of said slide, operating means worked by outwardmovement of said slide relative to said base for moving said pintransversely to the direction of movement of the slide away from saidelement with said selector means engaged with the eye of the bobby pinso as to spread one leg of the bobby pin away from the other leg thereofas the bobby pin is drawn outwardly as said slide moves outwardlyrelative to said base, and retaining means on said base engageable by aleg of the bobby pin as the bobby pin is carried outwardly and is spreadwhile the other leg is engaged with said element whereby the spreadbobby pin is maintained in spread condition on the base until manuallyremoved by the operator.

3. A dispenser and spreader for bobby pins comprising a base adapted tobe secured to a support, a slide reciprocably mounted on said base,spring means for retracting said slide inwardly after manual movementthereof to outward operated position, magazine means for holding aplurality of stacked bobby pins in unspread position on said base,selector means on said slide for selectively engaging the eye of thelowermost bobby pin, and spreading means comprising a spreading pincarried by said slide and an element on said base, said pin and saidelement being positioned between the legs of the bobby pin in theinitial position of said slide, operating means worked by outwardmovement of said slide relative to said base for moving said pintransversely to the direction ofmovement of the slide awal from saidelement with said selector means engaged with the eye of the bobby pinso as to spread one leg of the bobby pin away from the other leg thereofas the bobby pin is drawn outwardly as said slide moves outwardlyrelative to said base, said base comprising a substantially plane footportion, a plate-like bracket portion projecting therefrom at an obtuseangle and having a portion constituting a slide support on said bracket,said slide comprising a plate having channels on its opposite edgesslidably engaging the corresponding edges of said slide support.

4. A dispenser and spreader for bobby pins comprising a base adaptedtobe secured'to a support, a slide reciprocably mounted on said base,spring means for retracting said slide inwardly after manual movementthereof to outward operated position, magazine means for holdingplurality of stacked bobby pins in unspread-position on said base,selector means on said slide for selectivelyengaging the eye of thelowermost bobby pin, and spreading means comprisinga spreading pincarried by said slide and an element on said base, said pin and saidelement being positioned between the legs of the bobby pin in theinitial position of said slide, operating means worked by outwardmovement of said slide relative to said base for moving said pintransversely to the direction of movement of the slide away from saidelement with said selector means engaged with the eye of the bobby pinso as to spread one leg of the bobby pin away from the other leg thereofas the bobby pin is drawn outwardly as said slide moves outwardlyrelative to said base, said magazine means comprising front and reardeclining rods projecting forwardly from said slide support arranged forreception of the stacked bobby pins with the eyes thereof circumposed onthe front rod and the legs thereof resting upon said rear rod, the lowerpart of said front rod being tubular and provided with a slot in itsforward side, and said selector means comprising a finger on said slidearranged to work through said slot in the tubular lower part of saidforward rod as the slide is operated and to occupy a position withinsaid hollow part in the initial position of said slide for engaging theeye of the lowermost bobby pin.

5. A dispenser and spreader for bobby pins comprising a base adapted tobe secured to a support, a slide reciprocably mounted on said base,spring means for retracting said slide inwardly after manual movementthereof to outward operated position, magazine means for holding aplurality of stacked bobby pins in unspread position on said base,selector means on said slide for selectively engaging the eye of thelowermost bobby pin, and spreading means comprising a spreading pincarried by said slide and an element on said base, said pin and saidelement being positioned between the legs of the hobby pin in theinitial position of said slide, operating means worked by outwardmovement of said slide relative to said base for moving said pintransversely to the direction of movement of the slide away from saidelement with said selector means engaged with the eye of the bobby pinso as to spread one leg of the bobby pin away from the other leg thereofas the bobby pin is drawn outwardly as said slide moves outwardlyrelative to said base, said operating means comprising intersectingperpendicular and diagonal slots formed in said slide and slide supportthrough which said spreading pin extends in sliding engagement with thesides of said slots.

JAMES E. MoARTHUR.

